Concrete-molding apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q Dryer/far; N IL T/"Fiw4ais. 5

E. S. RHOADS Feb. 7, 1928.

CONCRETE MOLDING APPARATUS or g nal Flled Aug. 18 1926 Willa-as 2 E. s.RHOADS CONCRETE MOLDING APPARATUS Feb. 7, 1928.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 18, 1926 0941B. v H.

Patented Feb. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES.

ERRET'I. S. RHOADS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

CONCRETE-MOLDING- APPARATUS.

Application filed August 18, 1926, Serial N0. 129,896. Renewed September19, 1927.

"This invention relates to molding appa: ratus, more especially 101 theproductionoi concrete building units, and is designed as an improvementin the apparatus disclosed by United States Letters Patent Number1533,9205, issued under date of October 31, 1922, to W Nelson, underwhom Ihold exclusive rights to certain parts of the United States, myprimary object being to produce a strong, durable and eflicientconstruction composed of a plurality of members so formed and related asto insure unif'orm and interchangeable units which can be setorassembled by unskilled labor, to form a wall with the assurance that thewall shall be true and straight in all directions and hence possess themaximum strength and rigidity compatible with the material used.

\Vith thesegeneral objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel and useful features of construction and combinations of parts ashereinafter described and claimed; andin order that it maybe fullyunderstood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a top plan View of a molding apparatus embodying the.invention.

Figure 2'is a longitudinal section on the line lL-ll of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section onthe lme III-J11 of Figural. p

Figure 4; is an inner face view of one of the side members of themolding apparatus.

Figure 5 is an inner face view-of one of the end molding members.

Figure 6 is, a section on the line VI-VI of Figure'l. V 1

Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of Figure 6. V

Figure 8 is a sectional perspective view of a part of one of the members7.

Figure 9 is a View showing one of the concrete units produced by theapparatus, partly in elevation and. partly in central section, and alsoshows certain of the parts broken .away to show features otherwise notdisclosed. Y

In the said drawings, a suitable support for the mold apparatus consistsof a platform 1 provided with parallel side walls 2 and 3, and parallelend walls: 1 and 5, one side wall and one end wall being readilyremovable for the convenient assemblage of the mold members and for theremoval thereof from the support, to facilitate the removal oi themolded units.

The molding apparatus comprises unhas a longitudinal bulged or bowedcentral portion, identified respectively by the characters 11 and 12,the bowed portions being inwardly disposed with' respect to the squareopenings formed'thereby.

'lhe side members 6 fit flatly with their hollow sides out, against theside walls2 and of the support, and have straight or square endsabutting the end walls 4 and 5 of the support, and the end members fitlikewise against the supportends l and 5 and are bevelled at the ends ofthebowed portions at 13 to abut at such points and form mitered jointswith the'side members. 1

' The intermediate transverse members 8 are arranged in pairs fittingand preferably welded flatly together, with their hollow or channelfaces together, and their ends are bevelled as at 14, to form miterjoints with the side members. The longitudinally extending brokenmembers 9, are of length to fit between and properly space apart the endand intermediate transverse members and have bevelled ends 15 abuttingand forming miter joints with the engaged end and intermediate members,the sald broken longitudinal members, like the intermediate transversemembers, being arranged and fastened in sidewise abutting pairs withtheir hollow or channel. faces abutting; the construction andarrangement as thus far described being the same as in the aforesaidpatent.

To provide a perfectly stiff construction against springing or warpingand hence insure units of perfectly square and uniform size, all of themembers are provided with straight or square end channelled margins andwith braces spanning the channels of the bulged portions, and in themembers 8.

the braces are so arranged that they form external lugs, which inconjunction with the channelled margins of members 11, constitute locksfor holding all of the members in the required relation.

In each member the channelled margins are U-shaped, face each other, andlie equal distances from and on opposite sides of the center of theirrespective bulged portion, each of such channelled margins comprisingopposite arms 16 and 17 spaced apart by bridge or connecting portions18, and in the intermediate members 8 and members 9, the abutting arms1'? are welded or otherwise fastened together.

The braces which function only as such, are in the form of bars 19,spanning the bulged portions and riveted or otherwise secured to. theinner faces of the arms 16 of the marginal channels of the members 6 andthe sections of the broken longitudinal members. 8.

The other braces 20 are similarly fastened to the outer faces of thearms 16 of the channelled margins of the end and intermediate transversemembers, and extend through openings 21 provided in the bulged portionsby stamping tongues 22 therefrom. The braces 20 at their ends thusexternally ex posed constitute guide lugs, as explained, for theplacement of the sections of the members 8 relative to the transverseintermediate members and the end members, it being noted by reference toFigures 1 and 7, that the salt exposed ends or lugs are fitted in themarginal channels of the abutting members and thus serve in conjunctionwith the side walls 2 and 3 and end walls 4 and 5 tov lock all of themembers firmly together.

In all of the members having bevelled ends for their bulged portions soas to abut the side of and form a miter joint with other members, theend extremities of the arms 17 are cut-away as at 23, as if full lengthsuch arms would engage the lugs and prevent the proper close fittingassemblage of the members necessary in the production of uniformconcrete units 24, each of which, it will be noted by reference toFigures 2 and 9, has edge channels 25, conforming to the bulges of themembers between which it was produced.

These units are adapted to be assembled in horizontal superposed coursesto form a wall or the like, and to facilitate their proper and accuratearrangement, the opposite arms 16 of the mold members forming eachsquare opening, are respectively provided with conforming tenons 26 andrecesses 27, to respectively produce upon the concrete units, recesses26 and tenons 27, the tenons and recesses of abutting units fittingtogether in interlocking relation when assembled.

lVhen the molding members are secured in place on the support, asexplained, the

openings 10 are filled with concrete or the like, and a suitable toolemployed to level the mixture with the upper side of the members. Afterconcrete units thus produced have set the walls 3 and 5 are removed. Thecorresponding end and side members 7 and 6 respectively, are thenremoved and then the lower end of the right hand intermediate member 8is worked with a slight pivotal action to the rightat its lower end andthis action results in disengaging said member from member 6 and themembers 9 to the left of the manipulated member 8 and in sliding themembers 9 to the right of said member and the concrete units to theright so that the latter may be removed. The same manipulation isfollowed progressively to the left until the left hand member 7 has beenslidin ly displaced. Then substantially the same manipulation but in thereversed order, is followed, to re-assemble the various memexcept thateach of the longitudinal members 9 individually placed into end abuttingrelation with the lefthand member Concrete units produced by thisapparatus are absolutely uniform in size and shape, and unskilled laborcan be employed in erecting walls composed of such units, as the tenonsof any of the units will properly fit the recesses of any of the otherunits in the same horizontal course or in underlying or overlyingcourses. It is essential, of course, that che base course of a wall orwalls shall be horizontal and inclined neither inwardly nor outwardly,and to set this course, skill and experience would be necessary. Thesetting of the remaining units regardless of the height to which thewall or walls rise, requires only ordinary or unskilled labor and hencethe wall or walls can be erected expeditiously and economically. Theengaging tenons and recesses not only insure the proper assembly of theunits, but also serve to guard against displacement or disarrangementthereof when a liquid concrete mixture is poured into the upper ends ofthe passages formed by and between abutting mold members, and areespecially desirable if the mixture requires tampi'ng to insure theprovision of a dense and homogeneous skeleton binder for the unitscomposing the wall.

From the above description, it will be apparent that I have producedmolding apparatus embodying the features of advantage set forth asdesirable in the statement of the objects of the invention, and whichmay be modified in minor particulars Within the principle and scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A molding member of cross-sectional i marginallongitudinallyextending channels facing each other and on opposite sidesof the horizontal channel.

2. A molding member .of cross-sectional form to provide a central,horizontal, longitudinal channel and a corresponding bulge at oppositefaces, the member also having marginal longitudinallyextending channelsfacing each other and on opposite sides of the horizontal channel, thearms of the channelled margins most remote from the bulged face beingcut-away at theiriends short of the ends of the companion arms and thebase portions of said facing channels.

3. A molding member of cross-sectional form to provide central,horizontal, longitudinal channel and a corresponding bulge at oppositefaces, the member also having mar inal longitudinallyextending channelsfacing each other andon opposite sides of the horizontal channel, andbraces spanning the horizontal channel and secured at their ends to thearms of the marginal channels nearest the said bulged face.

tA molding member of cross-sectional form to provide a central,horizontal, longitudinal channel and a corresponding bulge at oppositefaces, the member also having marginal longitudinally-extending channelsfacing each other and on opposite sides of the horizontal channel, andbraces spanning the horizontal channel and extending through the wallthereof'and secured to the arms of the marginal portions on the op'posite faces thereof from the channels of the marginal portion toprovide external guide and locking lugs.

5. In a molding apparatus, a pair of men1- bers of cross-sectional formto provide a pair of central, longitudinal, oppositely-disposedcommunicating channels and corre sponding bulges; each member alsohaving inwardly-facing marginal channels at their hollow or channeledfaces, the abuttlng arms of the marginal channels being secured topairof central, longitudinal oppositely disposed communicating channels andcorresponding bulges; each member also having inwardly-facing marginalchannels attheir hollow or channelled faces, the abut-- ting arms of themarginal channels being secured together and cut-away short of the endsof the other arms and the base portions of the channels; the bulgedportions'being bevelled at their ends, and braces spanning the bulgedpor ions at the hollow sides thereof and extending through the wallthereof and lifting and secured at their ends to the outer faces of thefull-length arms of the respective marginal channelled portions.

7. A molding member arranged rectangularly: and of cross-sectional formto provide central, longitudinal channels at their outer faces andcorresponding bulges at their inner or opposite faces, and marginalflanges at opposite sides of the channels; opposite members havingalined tenons and recesses respectively at the inner sides of saidmarginal flanges.

In witness whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

- ERRETT S. RHOADS.

